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"Strong" is our theme for 2024. Building strength goes beyond the weight rack, and this month, mindbodygreen explores cultivating strong nutrition, relationships, and a strong sense of self for the new year.
Faith: A Personal Journey
Faith holds diverse meanings for different people, transcending religious affiliations. Regardless of your faith background, psychologist and author Lisa Miller, Ph.D., provides insights on turning your faith into inspired action in 2024. Strengthening your own faith involves widening your perspective, and Miller shares recommendations for achieving that.
Why Faith Deserves a Spot on Your Resolutions List
New Year's resolutions often revolve around "me, myself, and I," but faith extends beyond personal boundaries. Instead of seeking strength for personal goals, Miller suggests asking how to be of service, fostering a deeper connection with a higher power. This approach opens a dialogue with the divine, transcending individual desires.
Miller's research on the neuroscience of the spiritual brain reveals science-backed benefits for mental health. Strengthening key brain regions through faith practices adds another dimension to your well-being in the coming year.
Turning Faith into Action
Miller provides an actionable routine to establish and strengthen your faith practice in 2024.
Set a Strong Base:
- Ground in Spiritual Awareness: Cultivate divine awareness by reconnecting through prayer, nature walks, meditation, or spiritual mind-body practices like yoga. Establish a living connection with a higher power.
- Sustain This Awareness: Continuously practice spiritual awareness to stay attuned to God's presence. Develop a daily, moment-to-moment relationship with the divine, creating a three-dimensional prayer.
- Watch for Signs & Synchronicities: As your awareness grows, be open to signs, dreams, and synchronicities. Consider them as profound, certain, life-giving guidance. Trust your knowing and act on these synchronicities as your new mode of operation.
The Level-Up:
Faith, spirituality, and religion connect us to a higher power, but it's essential to recognize our role in the broader context and how our faith contributes to creation. Miller emphasizes the importance of living in deep contribution, being messengers and instruments of a higher power. Faith is about more than a personal spiritual journey; it's about being a part of a collective prayer, a synchronicity for others.